Vogue (Madonna song)

"Vogue"
Single by Madonna
from the album I'm Breathless
B-side	"Keep It Together"
Released	March 20, 1990
Format	Cassette, CD, CD maxi, 7", 12"
Recorded	December 1989 – January 1990
Genre	Dance-pop, house, disco
Length	5:16
Label	Sire, Warner Bros.
Writer(s)	Madonna, Shep Pettibone
Producer	Madonna, Shep Pettibone, Craig Kostich (exec.)
Certification	(see charts and certifications)
Madonna singles chronology
"Keep It Together" (1990) "Vogue" (1990) "Hanky Panky" (1990)

"Vogue" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna from her soundtrack album I'm Breathless (Music from and Inspired by the film Dick Tracy) and was released on March 20, 1990, by Sire Records. Madonna was inspired by vogue dancer and choreographers Jose and Luis Xtravaganza from the Harlem "House Ball" community, the origin of the dance Vogue, and they introduced "Vogueing" to her at the New York City club "Sound Factory". Jose Xtravaganza is featured in the Historic Art Documentary How Do I Look, directed by Wolfgang Busch. The song also appears on the 1990 greatest hits compilation The Immaculate Collection and Madonna's third greatest hits album, Celebration.

"Vogue" is an upbeat dance-pop song which contains a house beat and groove. Noted to contain influences of deep house, it is a contemporary track which followed the trends of dance music in the 1990s; nevertheless, it has strong influences of 70s disco within its composition. The song also contains a spoken section, in which the singer namechecks various golden era Hollywood celebrities. Lyrically, the song is about enjoying oneself on the dance floor no matter who one is, and it contains a theme of escapism. Critically, "Vogue" has been met with appreciation ever since its release; reviewers have praised its anthemic nature, calling it a funky and catchy song, and listed it as one of the singer's musical highlights. Critics also noticed that the song, which bears strong resemblances to classic disco music, was still successful despite the genre's commercial death several years before. The song also won several music awards. Commercially, the song remains one of Madonna's biggest international hits, topping the charts in over 30 countries, including Australia, Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. It became the world's best-selling single of 1990, selling over six million copies.

The music video for "Vogue", directed by David Fincher, showed Madonna paying homage to numerous golden era Hollywood actresses. Shot in black-and-white, the video takes stylistic inspiration from the 1920s and 30s; in it, Madonna and her dancers can be seen voguing different choreographed scenes. Critics noted the way in which Madonna used her postmodern influence to expose an underground subcultural movement to the masses. The video has been ranked as one of the greatest of all times in different critic lists and polls, and won three awards at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards out of a total of nine nominations.

Madonna has performed the song in four of her tours, as well as the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards and most recently at her performance during the half-time show of Super Bowl XLVI. The song has also been covered numerous times by different artists, such as The Chipettes in their album Club Chipmunk: The Dance Mixes; it also featured on the soundtrack of The Devil Wears Prada, as well as in "The Power of Madonna" episode of Fox TV show Glee. Writers and critics have noted the video and the song's influence in bringing an underground subculture into mainstream popular culture through the postmodern nature of her power and influence, as well as the way in which it followed a new trend in which dance music enjoyed widespread popularity. The song, which has been included in several critic lists as one of the greatest of the decade, as well as its accompanying video, have been attributed as bringing voguing as well as house music mainstream, with the former becoming one of the decade's major dance crazes.

Background

In late 1989, after the album Like a Prayer had spawned three U.S. hits—the title track, "Express Yourself" and "Cherish"—and a top-five European single in "Dear Jessie", its fourth US single, "Oh Father", stalled at number 20 in the charts. Perhaps to ensure that the last single release of "Keep It Together" would fare better on the charts, Madonna and producer Shep Pettibone decided to compose a new song to be placed on the flipside of "Keep It Together" and quickly produced "Vogue". The song and video were inspired by the dance of the same name, performed in New York clubs on the underground gay scene, in which dancers used a series of complex hand gestures, body poses and movements to imitate their favourite Hollywood stars (see the list of the names of the Hollywood stars below), as well as the cover models from Vogue magazine.

After presenting the song to Warner Bros. executives, all parties involved decided that the song was too good to be wasted on a B-side and that it should be released as a single. Although the song itself had nothing to do with Madonna's then-upcoming Disney movie Dick Tracy, it was included on the album I'm Breathless, which contained songs from and inspired by the film. Madonna altered some of the suggestive lyrics because the song was connected to the Disney film via soundtrack.

Composition

"Vogue" is a dance-pop and house song with visible influences from disco music. The song has also been noted by Allmusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine to have a "deep house groove" and to have a "throbbing beat" by Mark Coleman of Rolling Stone. J. Randy Taraborrelli, in his book Madonna: An Intimate Biography, wrote that the song was a "pulsating dance track". According to sheet music published at Musicnotes.com at Alfred Publishing, the song is written in the key of A♭ major, has a tempo of 120 beats per minute, and in it, Madonna's vocal range spans from C₄ to E♭₅. Lyrically, song has a theme of escapism, and talks about how any person can enjoy himself. Later on, the song has a rap/spoken section, in which Madonna names numerous "golden era" Hollywood celebrities.

The lyrics of the song's rap section features the names of 16 stars of the 1920s, 30s, 40s and 50s. Ordered as sung in the song, they are Greta Garbo, Marilyn Monroe, Marlene Dietrich, Joe DiMaggio, Marlon Brando, Jimmy Dean, Grace Kelly, Jean Harlow, Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Rita Hayworth, Lauren Bacall, Katharine Hepburn, Lana Turner and Bette Davis.

"Vogue" contains samples of some songs from the disco era. The bassline is from "Love Is the Message" by MFSB. The horns and strings appear in the song "Ooh, I Love It (Love Break)" by the Salsoul Orchestra. Some vocal samples from "Love Break" are also in the 12" remix and dubs^{[citation needed]}. "Like a Virgin" (the intro hook) is also in one of the dubs. It also contains a slowed sample from the synth start of "Lucky Star"^{[citation needed]}

Chart performance

Madonna performing "Vogue" on the Sticky & Sweet Tour.

After its release, "Vogue" reached number one in over 30 countries worldwide, becoming Madonna's biggest hit at that time. It was also the best-selling single of 1990, with sales of over six million copies worldwide. In the U.S., massive airplay and sales demand in response to the popular music video in April 1990 made way for "Vogue"'s number 39 debut in the week of April 14. The song shot to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in its sixth week on the chart, displacing Sinéad O'Connor's four-week run in the top spot with "Nothing Compares 2 U". The song also reached number one on the Hot Dance Club Play chart, remaining there for two weeks. On June 28, 1990, "Vogue" was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of two million copies of the physical single across United States. To date, it remains Madonna's best-selling physical single in the country. After digital sales began in 2005, "Vogue" has sold additional 311,000 digital downloads, according to Nielsen SoundScan, .

"Vogue" was also a huge success in Europe by topping the Eurochart Hot 100 Singles chart for eight consecutive weeks. In the United Kingdom, the song knocked Snap!'s "The Power" off the number one slot and stayed there for four weeks, continuing a trend of club/pop crossovers going to number one. It was helped in the UK by multi-formatting. As well as the 7, 12, CD and cassette singles, the label released four limited editions: 12 with Face of the 80s poster, 12 with 'X-rated poster and an extra remix on the b-side, 7 picture disc and 12 picture disc. According to The Official Charts Company, the song has sold 505,000 copies there and is her 11th biggest selling single in the UK. Released as a double A-side to "Keep It Together", "Vogue" also topped Australian Kent Music Report chart for five weeks running. The success of "Vogue" boosted the sales of the album I'm Breathless, and combined with Madonna's Blond Ambition Tour, generated massive publicity for the movie Dick Tracy.

Critical reception

"Vogue" has received generally positive reviews from critics. Allmusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine claimed that the song was "Madonna's finest single moment" and that it had an "instantly memorable melody". In a review of The Immaculate Collection, Stephen Thomas Erlewine also claimed that the song was "sleek" and "stylish". Jose F. Promis, in another Allmusic review, claimed that "Vogue" was a "crowning artistic achievement". In a 1990 review of I'm Breathless, Mark Coleman from Rolling Stone wrote that, whilst the song initially sounded "lackluster", within the album's context, it "gains a startling resonance". Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine, in his review of the album as a whole, claimed that whilst the "hugely influential" song initially sounded "grossly out of place", it turns out to be "a fitting finale" for I'm Breathless. Jim Farber from Entertainment Weekly, in a relatively negative review of I'm Breathless, asserted that the "finale of Vogue" is "the sole bright spot". J. Randy Taraborrelli, in his book, Madonna: An Intimate Biography, wrote that the song was a "funky, uptown anthem celebrating the art of 'voguing'", as well as that the rap section "is still one of Madonna's greatest camp musical moments".

Bill Lamb from About.com commented that the song is "[p]ossibly the most perfect dance song Madonna, the most successful dance artist of all time, has ever recorded." He placed "Vogue" at number 10 in his list "Top 10 Pop Songs of 1990" and 17th in "Top 100 Pop Songs of the 1990s." In 2003, Madonna fans were asked to vote for their Top 20 Madonna singles of all-time by Q-Magazine. "Vogue" was allocated the #14 spot. In 2007, VH1 ranked fifth the song on its list of "Greatest Songs of the 90s". Slant Magazine listed "Vogue" as tenth "Best Singles of the '90s" as well as third in their list of the "100 Greatest Dance Songs".

"Vogue", on addition, has received numerous accolades. It won the 1991 Juno Award for Best Selling International Single, as well as winning the American Music Award for Favourite Dance Single. The song, based on the 1990 Rolling Stone Reader's Poll Awards, was voted Best single. The song was also ranked as the fourth best song of 1990 on that year's Pazz & Jop poll by The Village Voice.

Music video

Background

German actress Marlene Dietrich is one of the many celebrities to whom Madonna pays homage in the video for "Vogue".

The video was directed by David Fincher and shot at The Burbank Studios in Burbank, California on February 10-11, 1990. According to Lucy O'Brien in her book Madonna: Like an Icon, the video was brought together after a "huge casting call" in Los Angeles where hundreds of different sorts of dancers appeared.

Filmed in black-and-white, the video recalls the look of films and photography from The Golden Age of Hollywood with the use of artwork by the Art Deco artist Tamara de Lempicka and an Art Deco set design. Many of the scenes are recreations of photographs taken by noted photographer Horst P. Horst, including his famous "Mainbocher Corset", "Lisa with Turban" (1940), and "Carmen Face Massage" (1946). Horst was reportedly "displeased" with Madonna's video because he never gave his permission for his photographs to be used and received no acknowledgement from Madonna. Some of the close-up poses recreate noted portraits of such stars as Marilyn Monroe, Veronica Lake, Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Katharine Hepburn, and Jean Harlow. (Additionally, several stars of this era were name-checked in the song's lyrics.) Several famous Hollywood portrait photographers whose style and works are referenced include George Hurrell, Eugene Robert Richee, Don English, Whitey Schafer, Ernest Bachrach, Scotty Welbourne, Laszlo Willinger, and Clarence Sinclair Bull.

The video features the dancers for Madonna's then-upcoming Blond Ambition Tour. The choreography was set by "Punk Ballerina" Karole Armitage. The video world-premiered on MTV on March 29, 1990.

There are two versions of the video, the regularly aired television music video, and the 12" remix, which is the extended version over three minutes longer. VH1 also released a Pop-Up music video version.

Synopsis

Madonna wearing the controversial sheer lace blouse in the black and white "Vogue" music video.

The black-and-white video, set in Art Deco-themed 1920s and 30s surroundings, starts off showing different sculptures, works of art, as well as Madonna's dancers posing. Along with this are images of a maid and a butler cleaning up inside what seems to be a grand house. When the dance section of the song starts, Madonna turns around, and, similarly to the lyrics, strikes a pose. The video progresses, and images of men with fedoras, Madonna wearing the controversial sheer lace dress and other outfits, follow. As the chorus begins, Madonna and her dancers start to perform a vogue dance routine. After this, other scenes of Madonna in different outfits and imitations of golden-era Hollywood stars progresses, after which there is a scene with Madonna's dancers voguing. Finally, after this scene, Madonna can be seen wearing her iconic "cone bra", after which she also performs a dance routine with a fellow dancer. As the rap section begins, different clips of Madonna posing in the style of famous photographs or portraits of Hollywood stars, begins, ultimately followed by a choreographed scene with her dancers.

Reception

MTV placed the video at the second on their list of "100 Greatest Music Videos Ever Made" in 1999. In 1993, Rolling Stone magazine listed the video as the twenty-eighth best music video of all-time. It was also ranked at number five on "The Top 100 Videos That Broke The Rules", issued by MTV on the channel's 25th anniversary in August 2006. It was the third time Fincher and Madonna collaborated on a video (the first being 1989's "Express Yourself" and the second being 1989's "Oh Father").

There was some controversy surrounding the video due to a scene in which Madonna's breasts and, if the viewer looks closely, her nipples could be seen through her sheer lace blouse, as seen in the picture on the right. MTV wanted to remove this scene, but Madonna refused, and the video aired with the shot intact. The video was edited in Australia for daytime screenings, with the sheer blouse images replaced with slow motion shots of other parts of the video.

"Vogue" music video received a total of nine MTV Video Music Awards nominations, becoming her most-nominated video at the award show. It won Best Direction, Best Editing and Best Cinematography.

Live performance

Madonna performing "Vogue" during the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards.

A performance of the song, featuring Madonna and the dancers in black lycra shorts was included on the 1990 Blond Ambition World Tour. Later that year she performed a lip-synched version at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards which was later released on the video compilation The Immaculate Collection and the European video single for "Justify My Love". It featured Madonna and her dancers dressed in an 18th-century French theme, with Madonna bearing great resemblance to Marie Antoinette. Madonna wore Michelle Pfeiffer's costume from the film Dangerous Liaisons. During the performance, Madonna and her dancers flashed their undergarments during their routine, and at one point Madonna pushed the faces of two male dancers into her breasts, and one of her dancers also fondled her breasts. Overall, the performance was ranked as the sixth best in the history of MTV Video Music Awards in a Billboard poll. In 1993, Madonna performed the song on The Girlie Show World Tour and wore a large beaded headdress by Dolce and Gabbana with the music re-arranged with a Middle-Eastern influence. In 2004, Madonna opened her Re-Invention World Tour with the song and was included in the 2005 documentary I'm Going to Tell You a Secret, it was later released on the live album to accompany it. Madonna performed the song again on the 2008–09 Sticky & Sweet Tour, this version includes a mash-up including "4 Minutes" and Timbaland's "Give It to Me". "Vogue" also served as the opening song in Madonna's Super Bowl XLVI halftime performance.

Accolades

• This video was ranked #28 on Rolling Stone magazine's "The 100 Top Music Videos".
• This video was ranked #2 on MTV's "100 Greatest Videos Ever Made".
• This video was ranked #5 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 90s.
• The song is ranked the 486th best song of all time and the 5th best of 1990 on Acclaimedmusic.net -->

Cover versions

Madonna performing "Vogue" as the opening song for her 2004 Re-Invention World Tour

• The song was sampled in Madonna's 1992 hit "Deeper and Deeper".
• On the Madonna tribute album Virgin Voices, the song was covered by British electronic music group Astralasia.
• Finnish band Waltari recorded a cover of the song.
• A dance version by Mad'House can be found on their album Absolutely Mad.
• On 2004's, Platinum Blonde NRG, Vol. 2: Nrgised Madonna Classics, a Hi NRG cover is performed by Nicki O
• Kylie Minogue performed it in her tour Showgirl: The Homecoming Tour, with her song "Burning Up" as the background music. It was also performed in her For You, For Me Tour.
• Rihanna at Conde Nast Media Group's 2008 Fashion Rocks.
• Britney Spears on her ...Baby One More Time Tour
• The Chipettes on their 1996 album Club Chipmunk: The Dance Mixes.
• On the Fox TV show Glee, Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) sang and performed in a "Vogue" music video on the March 2010 all-Madonna episode, with the name of Ginger Rogers replaced by the name of Sue Sylvester, and the phrase "Bette Davis we love you" replaced by the phrase "Will Schuester I hate you". The song charted at number 106 on the UK Singles Chart.
• Beth Ditto covered "Vogue" on several live performances, including at Moscow Miller Party. She also paid homage to "Vogue" with the video of her single "I Wrote the Book".
• The song is featured in the 2006 film The Devil Wears Prada during a scene with Anne Hathaway.

Legacy

See also: Madonna as gay icon

Vogue dance has gained mainstream popularity with the release of the song.

With the release of the song, Madonna brought the underground "vogueing" into the mainstream culture. Before Madonna popularized the dance, Vogue was only performed in bars and disco of New York City on the underground gay scene.

Author Lucy O'Brien, in her book Madonna: Like an Icon, wrote a detailed description of the song's influence:

'Vogue' became the Number 1 hit of that summer, played in clubs acros the globe, from London to New York to Bali. It rode the crest of the newly emerging dance craze, where club culture, house music and techno met the mainstream. 'Vogue' reflected the new hedonism; positive, upbeat, and totally inclusive.

The song is also noted for bringing house music into mainstream popular music, as well as for reviving disco music after a decade of its commercial death. Erick Henderson of Slant Magazine explained that the song "was instrumental in allowing disco revivalism to emerge, allowing the denigrated gay genre to soar once again within the context of house music, the genre disco became in its second life." Sal Cinquemani of the same publication wrote that the song was "making its impact all the more impressive (it would go on to inspire a glut of pop-house copycats) and begging the question: If disco died a decade earlier, what the fuck was this big, gay, fuscia drag-queen boa of a dance song sitting on top of the charts for a month for?"

Awards

Year	Ceremony	Award	Result
1990	MTV Video Music Award	Video of the Year	Nominated
1990	MTV Video Music Award	Best Female Video	Nominated
1990	MTV Video Music Award	Best Dance Video	Nominated
1990	MTV Video Music Award	Best Direction in a Video	Won
1990	MTV Video Music Award	Best Choreography in a Video	Nominated
1990	MTV Video Music Award	Best Art Direction in a Video	Nominated
1990	MTV Video Music Award	Best Editing in a Video	Won
1990	MTV Video Music Award	Best Cinematography in a Video	Won
1990	MTV Video Music Award	Viewer's Choice	Nominated
1990	Rolling Stone Reader's Poll Awards	Best single	Won
1990	Rolling Stone Reader's Poll Awards	Best Video	Won
1991	American Music Awards	Favorite Dance Single	Won
1991	Juno Award	Best International Single	Won

Track listing

US CD Single

1. "Vogue" (Single Version) – 4:19
2. "Vogue" (12" Version) – 8:25
3. "Vogue" (Bette Davis Dub) – 7:26
4. "Vogue" (Strike-A-Pose Dub) – 7:36

US 12" Single

1. "Vogue" (12" Version) – 8:25
2. "Vogue" (Bette Davis Dub) – 7:26
3. "Vogue" (Strike-A-Pose Dub) – 7:36

7" Single (Worldwide)

1. "Vogue" (Single Version) – 4:19
2. "Keep it Together" (Single Version) – 4:31

UK / EU CD Single

1. "Vogue" (12" Version) – 8:25
2. "Keep it Together" (12" Remix) – 7:50

UK / EU 12" Single

1. "Vogue" (12" Version) – 8:25
2. "Keep it Together" (12" Remix) – 7:50

US Cassette Single

1. "Vogue" (Single Version) – 4:19
2. "Vogue" (Bette Davis Dub) – 7:26

UK / EU Cassette Single

1. "Vogue" (Single Version) – 4:19
2. "Keep it Together" (Single Version) – 4:31

JP 3" CD Single

1. "Vogue" (Single Version) – 4:19
2. "Vogue" (Bette Davis Dub) – 7:26

Charts and certifications

Charts

Chart (1990)	Peak position
Australian Singles Chart	1
Austrian Singles Chart	7
Belgian VRT Top 30	1
Canadian RPM Singles Chart	1
Dutch Top 40	2
European Hot 100 Singles	1
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)	1
French Singles Chart	9
German Singles Chart	4
Irish Singles Chart	2
Italian Singles Chart	1
Japanese International Singles Chart	1
New Zealand Singles Chart	1
Norwegian Singles Chart	1
Spanish Singles Chart	1
Swedish Singles Chart	1
Swiss Singles Chart	2
UK Singles Chart	1
US Billboard Hot 100	1
US Hot Dance Music/Club Play	1
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks	16

Year-end charts

Chart (1990)	Position
Australian Singles Chart	3
Italian Singles Chart	5
US Billboard Hot 100	5

Decade-end charts

Chart (1990–1999)	Position
US Billboard Hot 100	93

Certifications

Country	Certification
Australia	2× Platinum
Brazil	Gold
Canada	Platinum
France	Silver
New Zealand	Gold
United Kingdom	Gold
United States	2× Platinum

Chart procession and succession

Preceded by "The Power" by Snap!	UK Singles Chart number-one single April 8, 1990 – April 29, 1990	Succeeded by "Killer" by Adamski featuring Seal
Preceded by "Nothing Compares 2 U" by Sinéad O'Connor	Norwegian VG-lista Singles Chart number-one single April 16, 1990 – April 30, 1990	Succeeded by "Black Velvet" by Alannah Myles
Preceded by "The Power" by Snap!	Eurochart Hot 100 Singles number-one single April 21, 1990 – June 9, 1990	Succeeded by "Sacrifice" by Elton John
Preceded by "Nothing Compares 2 U" by Sinéad O'Connor	Swedish Singles Chart number-one single April 25, 1990 – May 16, 1990	Succeeded by "Black Velvet" by Alannah Myles
Preceded by "Opposites Attract" by Paula Abdul	Australian ARIA Singles Chart number-one single May 5, 1990 – June 9, 1990	Succeeded by "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You" by Heart
Preceded by "Infinity" by Guru Josh	Belgian Flemish VRT Top 30 number-one single May 5, 1990	Succeeded by "What's a Woman?" by Vaya Con Dios
Preceded by "Vattene amore" by Amedeo Minghi and Mietta	Italian Singles Chart number-one single May 12, 1990 – May 19, 1990	Succeeded by "Vattene amore" by Amedeo Minghi and Mietta
Preceded by "Alright" by Janet Jackson	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play number-one single May 19, 1990 – May 26, 1990	Succeeded by "The Power" by Snap!
Preceded by "Nothing Compares 2 U" by Sinéad O'Connor	U.S. Billboard Hot 100 number one single May 19, 1990 – June 2, 1990	Succeeded by "Hold On" by Wilson Phillips
Preceded by "Walk on the Side" by Jamie J. Morgan	New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart number-one single May 25, 1990 – June 9, 1990	Succeeded by "Eagle Rock" by Daddy Cool
Preceded by "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You" by Heart	Canadian RPM Singles Chart number one single June 16, 1990 – June 30, 1990	Succeeded by "It Must Have Been Love" by Roxette

References

• Taraborrelli, Randy J. (2002). Madonna: An Intimate Biography. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0743228804 

External links

• Mad-Eyes.net – "Vogue" Single Page